Toyota's safety crisis deepened further last night when police officers in California were called to stop a runaway Prius that was accelerating out of control on a busy highway.

The driver, 61 year-old James Sikes, called Highway Patrol officers on his mobile phone after the 2008 Prius suddenly began to accelerate of its own accord while he was driving down the Interstate 8 freeway outside San Diego. The vehicle reached speeds of 94mph during the incident, which lasted more than 20 minutes.

Sikes said the accelerator pedal was stuck, and that the car would not stop even though he was pressing the brake with all his force.

"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car, and it just did something kind of funny … and it just stuck there," Sikes told a news conference outside a Highway Patrol office following the incident. "As I was going, I was trying the brakes … and it just kept speeding up."

Sikes also explained that he had continued to depress the brakes until "finally they started smelling really bad and I had metal sounds coming in the car".

The highway patrol team drove alongside the Prius, and instructed Sikes to engage the hand brake while simultaneously holding down the foot brake. They also directed him uphill. Once the car slowed to 50mph Sikes was able to turn off the engine.

Toyota, which has recalled around 8m vehicles due to problems with sudden, unintended acceleration, said it has dispatched a specialist to investigate.

Sikes told reporters that he had taken his car to a local Toyota dealership about two weeks ago for a service, and was told his car was not on the recall list.

"I'll be back there tomorrow," he said.

This incident has prompted comparisons with the fatal crash in California last August in which four people, including an off-duty Highway Patrol Officer, died after the accelerator of their Toyota Lexus ES350 became stuck. The car hit another vehicle before leaving the freeway and catching fire. Last week the family of the victims filed a lawsuit, accusing Toyota of liability and negligence.